Attention and expectation in human predictive learning: the role of uncertainty.
Three localized, visual pattern stimuli were trained as predictive signals of auditory outcomes. One signal partially predicted an aversive noise in Experiment 1 and a neutral tone in Experiment 2, whereas the other signals consistently predicted either the occurrence or absence of the noise. The expectation of the noise was measured during each signal presentation, and only participants for whom this expectation demonstrated contingency knowledge showed differential attention to the signals. Importantly, when attention was measured by visual fixations, the contingency-aware group attended more to the partially predictive signal than to the consistent predictors in both experiments. This profile of visual attention supports the Pearce and Hall (1980) theory of the role of attention in associative learning.
Hogarth
Lee
L
School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. lee.hogarth@nottingham.ac.uk
Dickinson
Anthony
A
Austin
Alison
A
Brown
Craig
C
Duka
Theodora
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time; D013997:Time Factors; D035501:Uncertainty; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult